Kitty Prozac

My 9 year old, little black cat Dakota has a little bit of a peeing problem in the house. For some reason, she pees on our bed. We know it's not a UTI, but a behavioral issue. She tolerates our other two cats, Daisy and Scarlett who we had first.

When we're watching TV in bed, Dakota will be on my lap, and Scarlett will then be on my stomach, or on the right side of my lap, and Dakota doesn't bother her. But, if Scarlett is there first, Dakota will swat at her to get her off me. Scarlett will jump off, Dakota gets comfortable, and then Scarlett will come back.

I can't tell you how many times I've left my room for just a couple of minutes, and when I get back, there's a wet spot. I have to change the comforter and the sheet. Since this happens so much, I put wee-wee pads under the sheet so the bed protector won't get wet. We even put the pads under the bed protector and over the zippered full encasement protector.

We tried a calming collar and even diffusers that dispense calming hormones. One of them smelled so much it triggered a migraine, so I had to return them. Neither of them worked.

So I talked to the vet last week, Dr. Joy and we finally decided to put her on kitty prozac. Since Dakota will not take pills or liquids, the last resort was to get a compounded pen of prozac from Chewy.com because they were the least expensive option.

Dr. Joy called the prescription in, and one of the Chewy pharmacists called to talk about it. We got it straightened out, and he called the vet to confirm it.

It showed up within 3 days, and it's a cool pen that with one click, dispenses the correct amount of cream which goes in the ears. One day it's the right, the next day it's the left. That's it at the top of the page.

A three month supply is around $40, which is less than a pill or liquid. 

Have I seen a change in Dakota yet? Well, she seems calmer, and she really hasn't peed on the bed. I say really because yesterday my wife pulled her pillow cases off because she said they smelled. That could have been before we gave her the prozac, or it was just her imagination. 

I love this little girl, and wouldn't give her up for the world! She is sweet, friendly and loves to cuddle. I wake up in the morning, and she's in my arm curled up like a little black ball. What we won't do for our pets.

 Killer Headaches

There is nothing in this world that is worse than waking up with a killer headache. I mean that kind that makes you want want to crawl back in bed in a fetal position and just cry.

My late grandmother Dorothy used to get migraines. My father told me this, and luckily he didn't get them. It skipped him and went to my daughter Michelle and skipped Melissa and me, or so I thought.

At age 67, grandma finally caught up to me. It was around June 2025 that I started to get these killer headaches that Tylenol or Ibuprofen wouldn't take care of. I mean headaches that caused me to stay in bed all day, not eat and want to do nothing.

I saw my neurologist who prescribed Nurtec as needed, and Amitriptilyn 10mg on a daily basis. As it turned out, 10mg was to much, as it would make me drowsy the next day, so we changed it to 5 mg, and I would take it earlier in the night.

The Nurtec wasn't 100% effective, so Ubrelvey was next. That didn't work at all, but it did for Michelle so I gave it to her. Next up was Imitrex, and that worked if I took 2 in a day; one in the morning, and one later in the day.

So before you ask, I did have an MRI. It showed nothing, just a hamster on a wheel. Just kidding. Luckily nothing bad such as a tumor or a clot.

I asked my neurologist about Quilipta, and instead he prescribed Topamax, another drug used daily for migraines. It starts with one pill for a week, two pills for a week, then finally 3 pills daily after that. 

I called my health plan and found out that Quilipta is not on their formulary, and the doctor would have to prescribe, and it would most likely be rejected. Then he would have to appeal it, then it would probably be approved. Isn't our health system wonderful?

Now it's a matter of time to see if Topamax works and helps controls these migraines. If you've never had one, consider yourself lucky. If you suffer like I do, let's link arms and hope for the best.

 

Shopping For Insurance

The only thing worse than shopping for insurance is an appointment with the gastroenterologist and talking about an endoscopy and colonoscopy. Yeah, it's that bad.

I had been with State Farm for almost two years, and when I started with them, they were less expensive than any other company, including the current one at the time, USAA. Keep in mind that to have insurance with USAA, you had to be a service member, or be in the family of one. I became one because my late mother married one, so my sister and I became automatic members.

USAA touts there service and prices, and at the time they were the best prices. However, their prices kept going up, and I shopped around, and State Farm beat them by a country mile. At the first renewal in 2023, their prices went up, but were still lower than anyone else. In 2024, there was yet another price increase, and I called my local office, and all they said was it's because New York allowed a price increase to go through. 

So when I got my 2026 documents a couple of weeks ago, there was yet another price increase! Enough was enough, and I started to shop around. Those comparison websites like Insurify, Jerry, etc are a total waste of time. They are limited to show prices only in your geographic area, so the same companies started showing up, and the prices were different. 

I called USAA, Amica and The Hartford by AARP for auto and home prices. All of them were higher than what I would be paying State Farm even with new increase. Boy, was I disappointed.

I tried to get a quote from Allstate, who dropped me about 10 years ago, but couldn't do it online for some reason, and an agency in Valley Stream tried called me numerous times, but since they are nowhere near me, I didn't answer and blocked them.

Then I called Progressive, and even though Flo wasn't available to talk (just kidding) I did speak to a couple of very nice customer service reps who gave me quotes. Home insurance would be $100 a year less than the new State Farm rate, and about $1200 a year less on the cars. So yes, I went with them.

Then the fun starts with cancelling my policies with State Farm. All I was told I needed was proof of insurance, so emailed them the ID cards. I got a reply back saying I needed the Declarations page, so I called and emailed the girl I spoke to on Friday asking for it. Hopefully it will show up sometime today.

So my advice when shopping for insurance; don't bother with any of those comparison sites, they are a waste of time. Wouldn't you rather save money by making some phone calls than sitting on your computer and getting eye strain?

 

Old Friends

How long do we keep friends for? My longest tenured friend is Irwin, who I met when I moved from Spring Valley, NY to Long Island around 1974 (That's him on the left, I'm in the middle). I recently found his cell number, and left a message, and last night he called me back.

He claimed the message was staticy, and couldn't understand it until he listened several times. We hadn't talked for over 5 years, so I thought it was time. Hopefully we'll make lunch plans for next week. 

My other long tenured friend is Danny, who I met sometime in the 1980's when we worked for the same company. My wife and I became good friends with him and his wife, and we always went out together. (That's Danny on the right)

The three of us guys also went out to lunch, and our favorite place was Pizza & Pasta in Westbury, NY which no longer exists. They had $5 personal pizza's and pasta bowls, so it was a great value.

Danny and his wife moved to North Carolina several years ago, and though we talk on the phone, it's simply not the same as being together. He recently got hurt at work, and is home for awhile, so I gave him some advice on hiring a lawyer to handle is Workers Compensation case, and applying for Social Security Disability. Neither of those should be done without a lawyer.

Finally, there's my friend Steve who lives in Florida. We knew each other in high school, even though we went to different schools. We became friends because we both had CB radios when it was a thing in the 1970's. One of the good things about Steve was he was the manager of movie theatre. I have no idea how many movies I got to see for free, but it was quite a few. After high school, we lost touch.

Let's fast forward to around 2002 when MySpace was thing. I was sitting at work, looking around the site when I see a picture and name. The name looked right, but this guy was bald, with a full beard and mustache. The guy I knew had a full head of hair and no facial hair. So I moved on and didn't think much of it.

Lo and behold, the next day, Steve sends me a friend request! It was the same guy, and we've been in touch ever since. He is a private detective, and I occasionally ask him to find other old friends for me.

Just today, I asked him to find a guy I knew when I lived in Poughkeepsie, NY in the early 1970's, Jack Greenblatt. I remember so much about him, such as his family and even his dog. He had two younger brothers, Harold and Gary, and an older sister, Diane. I don't remember the dog's name, but she had some sort of kidney issue that had her smelling like urine all the time.

As we were on the phone, he messaged me some information he found. Unfortunately, none of them were good leads, except for MAYBE one for his sister. I left a message, and maybe I'll get lucky.

If I'm lucky, I get to keep friends for a long time. Recently, I wrote about the people we met on our recent cruise, Dorothy and Mark and hopefully they will be life long friends because we get along so well, and Dorothy says Mark and I were separated at birth because we have so much in common. I agree with that!

Remember, good friends are like a well built house. You'll have them forever. 

Long 1970's Songs 

As I was sitting in the dentist chair today, I was listening to the music playing, and I knew EVERY single song playing. I asked what station it was, and he told me it was the Pandora 70's Hits station. No wonder I knew all the songs.

Any Disc Jockey from the 70's that actually jockied discs knew what songs to play when it was time to hit the bathroom.

When I was in college at WNYT, all of our music was on vinyl, either 45's or LP's. The station was at one side of the Education Hall building, and the restrooms were almost at the other end. We all learned what records to put on so we could go take care of business.

The four that immediately come to mind are Al Stewart/Year of The Cat, Don McLean/American Pie, Harry Chapin/Taxi and FM/Steely Dan. All of them gave us enough time to RUN, (yes, RUN) not walk to that far away bathroom.

When I was at WGLI-AM 1290/Babylon, the bathroom wasn't that far away. It was around the corner from the control room, and when I was there on the weekend, all alone, I never had a problem waiting for someone to get out. During the business week, you had to hope and pray there wasn't a wait.

Way back in 2004, when I was filling in at WEBE 108 in Bridgeport, CT, the first thing I asked was "Where's the bathroom?" By then, there were no records to worry about, a computer ran everything. So the urgency to put on a long record was gone.

One of the shows I did this year on "New York's Best Rock" was "Long Songs." But those were more classic/progressive rock than Adult Contemporary. There's really no AC station that will play Pink Floyd, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Ray Lynch and Renaissance. 

I certainly don't miss the days of having to literally run to the bathroom before a record ran out. 

Ah, the good old days of radio.

 It's All About The Cats

Regular readers know I love cats. My first two were Domino, who we lost to cancer at age 15, and Daphne who we lost at age 14. 

The cat above is Dakota, who is now 9 and still as cute as the day I got her. I call her my velcro cat, since she wants to be with me wherever I am.

When I take a nap during the day, she is right by my side. If I'm sleeping on my left side, I get her butt right up against my armpit, and put my hand under her belly, and she puts her rear paws in my hand. If I'm on my right side, she put her head on my shoulder. I've tried to revere that habit, but it doesn't work.

She purrs until she slowly flips over and is sleeping. There is nothing more relaxing that having her sleep with me.

When we were on our recent cruise, we stopped at a cat sanctuary in San Juan as I mentioned in the previous column. The cats were so cute, and I wish I could have taken one home, but my wife was having none of that thought.

Since we have 3 cats now, would it be fair to them if another one came into the house?

Daisy and Scarlett have been with us 10 years, and get along very well. Daisy tolerates Dakota, and Scarlett hisses at Dakota if she's with me and Dakota wants attention. But if they both are sleeping ON me, it's fine. Having two cats on me is relaxing, but we're talking about 16 pounds of cats on my lap. That makes getting up to go to the bathroom a bit difficult. There's no assurance they'll both come back when I return.

As I always say, ADOPT, DON'T SHOP! Go to your local shelter or vet and get a cat today!

 After Vacation Blues

About a week after getting home from our Caribbean cruise, I woke up Tuesday morning thinking it was Sunday, and I was late to breakfast and meeting my wife and friends on The Lido Deck. I was so disoriented and fuzzy I had no idea what was going on. I went back to bed for another hour, hoping I'd feel better.

No such luck. I woke up with a wicked headache. When that happens, the only thing that works is Nurtec ODT. I usually go to the gym on Tuesday, but this day it wasn't happening. I didn't have the strength for it, or for that matter the will to do much of anything. 

I texted my new friend Dorothy, thinking that she would find it funny, that I thought I was still on the ship. She agreed that she would also like to be at the buffet breakfast.

Being retired, I don't have to go to work that day after coming back from vacation. I had that happen to me to many times, and I vowed it would never happen again. 

After our honeymoon in 1992, I went to work the next day, and certainly didn't want to be there. I was sleepy and lethargic the entire day. After that, I always took an extra day off so I didn't have to return the next day. 

I mean, who would want to go to work after seeing a Caribbean sunset like that?

The few days that followed coming home involved to many doctor's appointments, putting away the outdoor furniture into the garage, tidying up the lawn, shutting down the sprinkler system and catching up on some much needed errands.

Vacation withdrawal is a known thing, and now I want to make plans to go on another cruise with our friends next year. 

Before we went away, a postcard came in the mail offering "A FREE CRUISE, AIRFARE AND HOTEL!" I was skeptical as I always am, but didn't do anything before we went away. My daughter called, but because her name wasn't on the postcard, they wouldn't tell her anything.

So a couple of days after we got back, I called the number, and made an appointment to join a 60-75 minute Zoom call on Wednesday, October 8 at 8:30 PM. Was I excited about a "free" vacation? Just call me Mr. Skeptical. Nothing in the world is free unless your parents give it to you, and even then there could be a catch.

So we get on the Zoom around 8:15, and we are joined in the room by 4 other couples from around the country and the facilitator. We were told that the room was going to be monitored for participation. 

At first, it's just information about what the company does. Head are nodding, hands are raised in acknowledgment to questions, and this guy from Orlando, FL keeps on talking.

Then BOOM...they want you to sign up for a vacation membership! It starts at $9,999 with a $249 start up fee, and then a $199 a year membership fee. 

DEAD FREAKIN' SILENCE IN THE ROOM. DEAD.

Then he says there's good news, that the first 3 couples that raise their hands, get a $3000 discount! 

AGAIN...DEAD FREAKIN' SILENCE. No one raised their hands. We are then handed off to another salesman in another room. 

At first, Daryl seems really nice, going over the benefits of the membership, etc. We keep saying NO. At this point we are over 2 HOURS into this and are dead tired. Daryl then drops it from $6,999 to $4,999, and finally to $3,499 with no start up fee. He keeps hammering away, and I said to him, "You can't sell a salesman." He ignored me, and kept on going, until I raised my voice and said "STOP!" 

He then handed us off to the final person, Hal in Nashville, who started off with an inane story we didn't care about. I again raised my voice and said "STOP!" We said no, and nothing you are going to say will change our minds. He faked being insulted, and said if you want to leave, just hit the red button on the bottom right. 

So I said, "CYA!" and clicked out of the room. We thought that was almost as bad as the timeshare presentation we attended in Savannah, GA a number of years ago. That thing lasted over 2 hours and the kids were not happy. Heck, they promised food and there was nothing.

My wife and I thought that we wouldn't get the promised vacation certificates, but wouldn't you know it, they showed up the next day. The only thing we have to pay is fees and taxes, and I estimate that to be in the neighborhood of $1000 or so for a cruise, airfare and hotel. We'll find out once I complete it.

Lesson learned, I will never, ever fall for one of those presentations again. That's two and half hours of my life I'll never get back.

Let's face facts, wouldn't you want to be on that beach in St. Thomas rather than where you are now or in a stupid Zoom meeting?

UPDATE October 17, 2025: I got a call from Travis at RSI Vacations, asking some questions about the presentation. I told him that 75 minutes should not have turned into 2 and half hours! I also told him that that the two guys after him were rude, condescending and downright horrible to talk to. He apologized, and mentioned that they had been getting complaints about them in the week since the presentation happened. He asked if we were offered the "free" option, and I said no.

Free is not free if any money is involved. The tax was based upon the $7500 value, about $550. Yes, that is a good deal, but we were so pissed about the whole thing we still said no. He said he would give us until the end of the day to decide. Again, a deadline!

I wrote an email to Travis, asking why was it based upon $7000 instead of the $3500 that was the last price offered? I also told him had he given us a reasonable amount of time to decide, that would have been better instead of making a quick decision. 

I still haven't gotten a reply, and I doubt I will.